Influence of AI technologies on the psychology of sustainable consumption: Scoping review

This scoping review maps the emerging evidence on how artificial intelligence (AI) technologies shape the psychology of sustainable consumption. Guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted on June 25, 2025, using Scopus and Web of Science, combining the keywords artificial intelligence, psychology, and sustainability. There were 1,561 publications when the corpus was limited to English-language papers published between 2020 and 2025. After removing duplicates, screening titles and abstracts, and reviewing full texts, 19 research satisfied the requirements for inclusion. Using descriptive charts and inductive thematic analysis, four main things were found: (1) anthropomorphic chatbots are the most popular AI touch-point and consistently increase people’s desire to buy green products; (2) AI effects are mediated by psychological states, such as social presence, hedonic motivation, perceived usefulness, and green satisfaction, rather than by technology alone; (3) algorithmic advice can be less effective than human guidance when moral or reputational stakes are high; and (4) theory building is heavily biased toward technology-acceptance models, leaving value-based and affective mechanisms under-explored. These findings highlight both the promise and the boundary conditions of AI-enabled persuasion and chart a research agenda that integrates richer motivational theories, hybrid human–AI designs, and longitudinal real-world evaluations.